First Ride on the New Giant Anthem

Today was my first ride on my new 2008 Giant Anthem 0. I started out at home, rode to Cranbrook, and did some random trails there. It started sprinkling a bit as I was riding back, so I decided that eating some dinner and then driving up to Pontiac Lake wouldn't be a good idea.

The bike felt pretty good. It's nice to have lockout in both the front and the back, despite the fact that it's manual lockout as opposed to TerraLogic lockout from Fox. The frame felt really responsive on the trails, especially on the halfway ridge trail that goes along the lake. It made me really want to go to a real trail and do some mountain biking.

The only thing I really regret about buying a full suspension as opposed to a hardtail is that it didn't feel as quick or nimble on the climbs. I think I'm a lot stronger than I was at this time last year, so the added 3lbs of weight wasn't much of a factor, just the "bobbing" feeling I felt as I was climbing.

Overall, I'd say I'm really happy with the bike (well, the color could be better), and I'm really looking forward to trying it out on some real mountain trails like Pontiac Lake and Poto. I'm thinking I might drive out to Pontiac Lake tomorrow and do one or two easy loops to keep my legs loose for the BTR Criterium in Kalamazoo on Saturday. That should be a tough race since I hear that there are some significant climbs, and I'll be racing in the Pro 1-2-3 category.